From 'Ichinotani Futaba Gunki'
'Ichinotani Futaba Gunki' is based to 'The tale of Heike', and this play 'Kumagai Jinaya' is an episode of 'Atsumori' that is one of the most popular parts of the book. In February 1185, Kumagai Naozane stopped a warrior Taira-no Atsumori leaving from the battlefield. In 'The Tale of Heike', Naozane didn't know who the warrior was. The warrior was as young as Naozane's son Kojiro who was only 16 years old, and he had put on a light makeup beautifully. When Naozane asked his name, the warrior asked back who Naozane was. Naozane answered, then the warrior said 'ask others who I am, after you kill me.' It means that Atsumori refused to introduce himself to a provincial warrior who didn't know him. It moved Naozane very much, and he would have liked to save the warrior's life. Although the result of the battle wouldn't change by Atsumori's life or death, the Genji army was coming there, so Naozane couldn't save the warrior. Naozane asked the warrior if he had a will. The warrior just said 'kill me soon.' The answer moved Naozane very much again. Then Naozane killed Atsumori. Naozane found that the warrior had a flute then. Even if there were so much warrior who came from the east country, there would be no warrior who took a flute to the battlefield. Naozane thought how elegant the western noble people were. If he hadn't been a warrior, he wouldn't have killed such an elegant young noble. Naozane regret that he was a bushi, a warrior. In this play, 'Kumagai Jinya', Naozane needed to know that the warrior was Atsumori, because he must save Atsumori. But in 'The Tale of Heike', I think even in the fact, Naozane didn't know who the warrior was. This play was first performed in 1752. At that time, Kabuki fans accepted the setting that Naozane had known the warrior was Atsumori. Sometimes Kabuki plays demand an audience's imagination, but it isn't too much. Actually, the flute that Atsumori had was given his grandfather from the ex-emperor Gotoba. That fact made writers imagine the situation of this play. Audience could have thought that it was a likely matter that Atsumoti was a real son of the ex-emperor Goshirakawa. So the setting of this play wasn't beyond the audience's imagination. It is interesting that Yoshitsune suggested to save Atsumori's life in this play. Although Yoshitsune was an able combat commander, he wasn't a politician, because he didn't recognize that the old system of the imperial court had collapsed. At that time, Minamoto-no Yoritomo, the chief of the Genji clan, who was an older brother of Yoshitsune was going to build a new system by the warrior class without the imperial authority. He was a very able politician. However, the ex-emperor Goshirakawa treated Yoshitsune in order to get back the power to his court again. Yoshitsune's suggestion was set up by writers, but its situation had a consistency. I think that its consistency was interesting, because it was also a likely matter that Yoshitsune wanted to save a son of the ex-emperor Goshirakawa. As I mentioned before, Naozane regret that he was a warrior in 'The Tale of Heike', because he had to kill Atsumori. In this play 'Kumagai Jinya', Naozane's regret was shown as his sadness of which he had to kill his son Kojiro. And Naozane becomes a priest. When Naozane showed that he was wearing priestly garments, everyone was surprised very much. But there was the only one person that could have been furious with him. That person is Sagami. Sagami was a wife of Naozane, and was mother of Kojiro of course. Her husband killed her son, moreover he threw away everything that included her. Naozane says that everything of 16years was dream. It means that Naozane refused also his wife's 16years. Women who appear on the Kabuki plays have always the severe fate. Sagami also wasn't an exception. After 5years from this incident had happened, Yoshitsune was killed in 1189. It might have been a dream really.
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